Bismarck still hesitated; he was so cautious that he would not take the first step.

At last the final provocation came, as he hoped it would, from Austria.

He knew that if he waited long enough they would take the initiative.

They proposed to summon the Estates of Holstein, and at the same time brought the question of the Duchies before the Diet.

Bismarck declared that this was a breach of the Treaty of Gastein, and that that agreement was therefore void; Prussian troops were ordered to enter Holstein.